


getting somewhere slow

by amaura



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Friends With Benefits, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 14:28:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14771408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amaura/pseuds/amaura
Summary: Things with Tito have always been easy, no questions asked – just sex. It’s been easy because Luc didn’t have to put a label on it. At first, it felt convenient to sleep with Tito whenever they’d see each other in Juniors and they just kept doing it when they got to the big leagues because it became routine.Then Luc had to get feelings and fuck it all up.





	getting somewhere slow

**Author's Note:**

> If you are, or if you know anyone in this story, please do us all a favor and click away. This is a work of fiction, none of this is true. 
> 
> Title is from [this song](https://genius.com/Sara-bareilles-pretend-lyrics). This is so soft, I don't even know where all of this came from. Thanks to everyone who made this possible, you know who you are!

Luc opens the door and Tito is standing on the other side. He’s still wearing his swimsuit from earlier, and he put his towel around his neck to look cool, probably. Luc would ignore it, except he can feel his chest as it tightens: Tito’s eyes on him are more noticeable than they were a moment ago. Luc doesn’t remember the last time he felt like this with one of his hookups and frankly, it’s never happened before. But whenever he sees Tito, whether he’s wearing a shirt or not—though the former is pretty rare these days, what with the weather and the heat being the way it is—Luc’s chest tightens and he’s never been in love, not really, but if he had to guess what he was feeling right now, he’d say it’s pretty close.

“Hey,” Luc says after a while. He knows Tito is still looking at him, can feel his eyes on him more and more as time goes on.

Tito looks up and finally meets Luc’s eyes, and he smiles and Luc’s heart probably does a double-take. “Hey,” Tito says, like he didn’t just rock Luc’s world with a smile. “I was coming over to ask if you wanted to hang out.”

It’s subtle in a way that if anyone were to hear this conversation, they’d assume it was just two guys making plans for the afternoon and that hanging out meant what it really means. Except Luc knows better. He’s known Tito for years and he knows him well enough to know that if he says he wants to hang out, he probably wants to fuck, which. Luc isn’t completely opposed to doing that at all.

“Sure,” he says, moving aside so Tito can walk in.

The door closes behind them and it doesn’t take long for Luc to walk to where Tito is standing and kiss him. That’s always how it starts, with meaningless kisses that turn into more. Luc’s hand is tangled in Tito’s hair and he tugs on it a little, kissing Tito a little deeper. Things with Tito have always been easy, no questions asked – just sex. It’s been easy because Luc didn’t have to put a label on it. At first, it felt convenient to sleep with Tito whenever they’d see each other in Juniors and they just kept doing it when they got to the big leagues because it became routine.

Then Luc had to get feelings and fuck it all up. It’s still easy, it’s still good,but a part of Luc will always want more and that almost feels unfair to Tito. Because Luc would drop everything just to be with him, and he doesn’t think Tito would do the same. Not because he’s not a good guy, but because Tito hasn’t been in a relationship since Juniors and he doesn’t look like he wants to be.

Tito’s hands are pulling on his shirt, as if to say “take it off” and Luc doesn’t have to be told twice. He leans against the edge of the bed and takes his shirt off before bringing their mouths together again. It’s good, always has been, and Luc can’t get enough.

Luc pulls back from the kiss and takes a second to just look at Tito. He shouldn’t, not really. This isn’t how their thing is supposed to go but he can’t help it. Not when Tito is smiling at him like he hung the moon, not when Tito makes him feel things he’s never felt before.

“I want to fuck you,” Luc says, because even though that’s almost always how it goes, it feels good to say what he wants. Except that’s not all he wants but this isn’t a conversation they should be having in the middle of foreplay.

Tito grins. “I would let you fuck me,” he says, “except I was serious when I said I wanted to hang out with you for a bit. I feel like I haven’t really spent time with you alone ever since we arrived.”

“Oh,” Luc says.

That kind of ruins the moment—or whatever it is that just happened. Luc should be glad because this is what he wanted—more time with Tito alone.

“Is that okay?” Tito says, and he’s sitting on the edge of the bed next to Luc all of a sudden and all Luc wants to do is kiss him again.

Luc shrugs. “Yeah,” he says. “What do you wanna do?”

“I don’t really know,” Tito says. “I just wanted to see you, I guess.”

And that’s when Luc leans over and kisses him because he can’t really help himself. Not when Tito is being like this, not when all he’s been thinking about ever since he flew to Europe is that maybe he’s gonna get Tito to realize that spending time with him doing things other than sex can be fun, too. Tito kisses him back, thankfully, and they resume where they had stopped earlier, Luc’s hand warm on Tito’s neck and Tito’s tongue warm against his own.

“We could get dinner,” Luc says, mid-kiss. He doesn’t know why he decided to blurt that out, but once it’s out there’s nothing he can do about it.

Tito kisses him, too fast for Luc to even react. “What, like a date?”

 _Yeah _,__ Luc thinks, except he doesn’t want Tito to have to explain to him that he doesn’t date anymore and that he’s not into him like that. Instead, he says, “Nah, just like. Two bros, getting food, because they’re hungry.”

“Oh, then yeah. Let me just get a shirt from my room,” Tito says.

He watches Tito stand up, grab his towel from the floor and leave. He should stop him and say that yeah, this should be a date because he really wants it to be, but he doesn’t do anything and the hotel room door closes behind Tito with a click and Luc exhales.

__

The restaurant they pick is just around the corner and, according to their hotel receptionist, it’s one of the best restaurants in the neighbourhood. Tito seems distracted, looking at his phone every few minutes, and it makes Luc nervous. He knows that they agreed this wasn’t a date, but they’re also not talking so it’s the opposite of what Luc wanted. Tito said he wanted to spend time with him because they hadn’t seen each other in awhile, but he hasn’t looked at the menu even once, hands too busy typing something on his phone.

Luc decides to break the silence when Tito puts his phone back down on the table and decides to pick up the menu and scour through it.

“You okay?”

Tito looks up. “Yeah, just letting the boys know where we are in case they wanna join.”

Luc hums. He doesn’t say anything else but when he looks up again, Tito’s back at looking through the menu.

It’s awkward in a way that it never has been before. It’s like all the awkwardness they’ve managed to avoid for all these years decides to resurface now, which is, like, the worst possible moment. Luc has been dealing with his own feelings for Tito for months now and he guesses Tito hasn’t had the chance to do the same because he didn’t think there were feelings to begin with. A part of Luc still thinks Tito could maybe feel the same way if he allowed himself to be with someone again.

Luc understands that heartbreaks are hard, and though he’s never really been on the receiving end of those, he kinda feels for Tito. There’s just a part of him that wants him to get over it and move on, with him preferably.

He remembers the first time this happened. It had been about a week after Tito and his long term boyfriend had broken up. Their junior teams were set to play against each other twice in two days when Tito showed up at his hotel room door. He looked upset and broken and Luc hadn’t known what to do at the time so when Tito kissed him, Luc let him. Kissing turned into something more and then it was over. They didn’t talk, because Tito didn’t look like he wanted to and they went their separate ways and played hockey the next day like nothing happened. Tito was back on the ice with a smile, like he hadn’t been so sad and broken the night before.

And then it kept happening, and Luc didn’t put a stop to it when he had the chance, and now he’s basically in love with Tito—Tito who swore one night when he was drunk, that he would never fall in love again— and you know what they say about drunk people. They always tell the truth.

The waiter comes back to their table to ask if they’ve decided what to eat and while Tito nods on the other side of the table, Luc realizes he still hasn’t looked at the menu. He picks the first thing he sees and hopes it’s good and he hands his menu over before taking a sip of water.

“You okay?” Tito asks.

“Yeah, just thinking,” Luc says. It’s not really lying if he doesn’t specify what he’s thinking about.

It’s not like Tito has to know about any of this right now, anyway.

 

The rest of dinner goes by smoothly and the awkwardness seems to subside as the night goes on and before Luc knows it, the waiter comes back to the table with one bill. He grins at the two of them, like he’s waiting for one of them to tell him that there should be two bills, not one but neither say anything. Luc is just kind of staring at Tito—which he realizes is something he does a lot recently—and when he notices Tito looking back at him, he grabs his wallet and hands the waiter his credit card.

He’s still looking at Tito when he punches in his pin and even afterwards when they’re heading back outside. It’s a little chilly, colder than it was earlier but still way warmer than any of the summer nights they’ve spent together in Quebec.

The neighbourhood is different during the night and it seems more alive than it was during the day, most of the balconies lit up with candles and lights, people eating outside and enjoying the weather. It’s almost nice. They’re standing together on the street corner, just looking around to contemplate their surroundings when Tito grabs his hand and leads him to this dark and creepy sidewalk on the other side of the restaurant.

“You’re being weird,” Tito says. Luc knows he’s being weirder than usual but he wasn’t expecting Tito to pick up on it, especially with the way he’s been engrossed in his phone all night.

Luc shrugs. “I’m just tired.”

He can’t use the jet lag excuse anymore because they’ve been in Europe for almost a month now. They did go to the gym, though, so he can be tired all he wants. It’s not really a lie, but it’s not the whole truth either.

Luc doesn’t know how to tell Tito how he feels because he knows it’ll just end up with Tito telling him he doesn’t want things to change. Not saying anything is his best option, but he’s kind of fucking that up right now by not being able to think about anything else. On the outside he looks confident okay, but on the inside he’s freaking out about possibly getting his heart broken by someone who got his heart broken in the first place.

“There’s something you’re not telling me,” Tito says. He looks up at Luc again and the lights from the lamppost are reflecting in his glasses and Luc can’t focus on anything else. “You don’t have to tell me but don’t lie to me, man.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Luc says, his hand coming up to Tito’s shoulder to grab it lightly.

He’s just—dealing with feelings when you don’t see the person you’re into for weeks, months, is easy but trying to deal with everything when he’s also fucking Tito almost every day is exhausting.

Luc starts walking back to the hotel, like normal people do after dinner when Tito grabs his hand.

“Wait,” Tito says.

Luc shouldn’t be hopeful, because this could go a lot of ways and he might not like all of them. He holds on the little bit of hope he has when he turns around.

“You should kiss me,” Tito says.

He says it like it’s nothing, like they kiss all the time in public, which—they’ve never done that before. Whenever they kiss, it’s behind closed doors and Luc’s pretty sure no one even knows about this. Not even the two guys who are on this trip with them. He hasn’t told anyone and he doubts Tito has because Tito’s not like that. He brags about a lot of things but his hookups are always kept secret.

“You—”

Luc doesn’t even get to finish before Tito says, “Don’t lie and say you don’t want to.”

“I do,” Luc says, because he does. What he doesn’t know is where this is going. He’s still holding onto those last bits of hope but that doesn’t mean things are going to go his way.

Tito smiles and takes a step closer. “Kiss me.”

Luc doesn’t hesitate before leaning closer and bringing their mouths together. It’s like every kiss they’ve ever shared packed into one, except this one isn’t rushed. It’s not fast paced because Luc wants to enjoy every second of it, since it might be the last one they share, but it’s not too slow either, like first kisses tend to be. It’s just right and then when it hits him that they’re in public, Luc pulls away.

It’s not that he’s ashamed of this, of what they have, but more like there’s a time and a place for everything and things would be easier if they were back in their hotel rooms.

“You look happy,” Tito says, once they’ve opened their eyes.

“I am,” Luc says. “This makes me happy, and well. You make me happy, too, I guess.”

Tito grins. It’s a nice look on him, Luc decides. He always knew it was, but this feels different. It feels like Luc is the reason behind this smile.

“You wanted this to be a date, didn’t you?”

Luc’s smile falls off his face. “No,” he says.

“You can just tell me,” Tito says.

Luc shakes his head. “Yeah? And then what? You’re gonna tell me you can’t be with me because you swore you’d never date again when you were 17? I don’t want to talk about this.”

Luc shrugs Tito’s hand out of his and starts to walk away. He doesn’t want things to go sour because they still have a few weeks left to the trip, but he doesn’t want to talk to Tito right now, either.

He can see the hotel from corner of the street so he heads in that direction and ignores Tito’s calls for his name. He doesn’t run, even though he knows Tito has probably started walking towards the hotel as well and that he’s gonna catch up with him any minute. He’s prepared for the worst when he hears footsteps catching up with his but Tito just puts a hand on his shoulder, grounding him and Luc stops walking.

“If you’d let me finish,” Tito says, looking directly into Luc’s eyes, “I would’ve said that I wanted this to be a date, too.”

Luc wants to believe it. This is what he’s been wanting to hear for the past three months, the closest thing to an _i love you too_ that he can get but somehow, it feels wrong. It feels forced, like Tito had to say it because he was afraid Luc would leave otherwise.

“You don’t have to say that just to make me happy,” Luc says. He’s not angry, he’s just hurt. “You don’t mean that and I’ve known since the start that nothing more was gonna happen between us.”

“I want this, too. I know I said that I wasn’t gonna date again, or fall in love again, but it’s hard not to when the last few weeks with you have been so good,” Tito says, grabbing Luc’s hand.

Luc lets himself have this. He tangles his fingers with Tito’s and just stands there for a second. He’s way past not showing Tito how soft he can be, so he just wraps his free arm around Tito’s shoulders and pulls him in close.

“You’re so soft,” Tito says, like he’s reading Luc’s mind.

Luc is laughing when he says, “Shut up,” and starts walking towards the hotel again.

 

They get to Tito’s hotel room first because his is closer to the elevator. There’s already someone in the room because they can hear the TV through the thin walls but Tito doesn’t even hesitate, pulling on Luc’s hand so they can go to his room instead. Luc doubts his room is gonna be empty because even though they decided not to share a room together because of _reasons_ , they still decided to bring two of their friends along for the trip so that leaves them both with one temporary roommate each. Luc pushes his card in and pulls it out quickly and he lets himself in first, making sure it’s empty before he pulls on Tito’s hand and literally drags him in.

The bed is still the way Luc left it when he left for dinner, so all his clothes are still on top of it, along with his suitcase but Tito doesn’t seem to mind this one bit, pushing the suitcase to the ground and throwing a few shirts down there too before pulling Luc on top of him.

Luc knows what to do from there, licking his lips before he leans in and kisses Tito again. He thinks he should be tired of kissing Tito at this point, with how much kissing they’ve done today and throughout this whole trip, but he’s not. Out of all the things you can do to get the mood going, kissing has always been Luc’s favourite. Tito always goes along with it, so he doesn’t seem to mind it too much.

Luc pulls back to kiss at the junction of Tito’s neck and jaw and loves the sound Tito makes when his lips make contact with that exact spot. It’s something they’ve done before, countless times, but it seems to work every time to get Tito going. Tito’s head turns to the side, allowing Luc to kiss along his neckline and collarbones. They’re already a month or so into the off-season so Luc doesn’t have to worry about hickeys, and since he knows how much Tito likes them, he makes sure to sink his teeth into the skin of his neck a few times, until the skin is red. He can feel Tito’s dick against his leg and it’s starting to get hard. He moves his hips like he knows what he’s doing and the noise Tito makes when their dicks touch is so good that he does it again, and again, until he’s hard as well.

They’re wearing too much clothing for two people who are about to fuck, so Luc kisses Tito’s neck a few times before he pulls back and sits up, both legs on each side of Tito’s. His hands are pulling at Tito’s shirt because he wants to get that off first, and Tito is quick to oblige, sitting up a little so Luc can pull his shirt up and throw it with the rest on top of his suitcase. Luc’s shirt is next and he takes awhile to take it off because Tito’s hands are on his sides, thumb tracing circles on his skin and Luc kind of sits there, thinking about how things like these didn’t happen before today.

About how he didn’t know Tito felt the same way about him before today. And that now that he knows, the sex is gonna be even better because Luc is gonna be more than a hundred percent into it.

In the end, Luc’s shirt does end up coming off and they go back to making out on the bed. Luc flips them over so that Tito can be on top of him and Tito starts kissing his way down his chest and Luc just stares at him. Tito’s glasses are still on, which Luc appreciates because he knows Tito usually takes them off beforehand or just doesn’t bring them at all.

Luc doesn’t have to tell Tito what he wants because Tito already knows. They don’t have a routine, because every time they hook up is different but Tito knows what Luc likes as much as he knows what Tito likes, so when Tito’s pulling on the waistband on his pants, Luc knows where this is going and he’s not opposed to it at all.

Blowjobs can’t really be bad, Luc thinks, because a mouth on his dick is a mouth on his dick, but Tito’s especially good with his mouth. He always has been, ever since that first time they hooked up, so he’s never gonna say no to Tito wanting to suck him off.

“Haven’t done that in awhile,” Tito says, pulling Luc’s pants past his ass.

Luc snorts. “We did this yesterday.”

“I mean, having sex with someone I’m in love with.”

Luc’s heart is so full. “Shut up,” he says, but there’s no heat behind it. And then, “I’m in love with you, too.”

Luc doesn’t get much time to let that sink in before Tito’s warm hand is on his dick. Luc tries his best to keep his hips still and he nearly loses it when Tito’s lips wrap around the tip. It’s something he’s used to -- he even got his dick sucked yesterday, but it’s like every time Tito’s about to suck him off, his brain forgets the sensation of a warm mouth circling his dick, so he always has to suck in a breath.

“Fuck,” Luc says, under his breath.

Tito doesn’t even look up as he goes down until his lips touch the hand he’s wrapped around Luc’s dick. It’s definitely not a sight for sore eyes and Luc takes one of his hands and puts it behind Tito’s head, fingers tangling in his hair. Again, it’s not routine at all because things are always different when it comes to hooking up with Tito, but Luc still knows what he likes and how he likes it.

Tito pulls off for a moment but his hand is still jerking Luc off. He’s staring into Luc’s eyes like they’ve been in love for years and Luc’s heart swells a little, just like it had before, but this time it’s even better because Tito is looking right back at him, his mouth forming a grin. It’s a lot to process, but Luc knows he loves it.

Luc watches closely as Tito leans back down, but instead of taking the tip of Luc’s dick in his mouth like he usually does, he decides to lick along the sides of it instead, and the air coming out of Tito’s mouth is warm in comparison to the room temperature, so the contrast of both is nice enough to give Luc shivers. He swears under his breath, doesn’t miss the way Tito smiles when he hears him, and swears again for good measure because this is better than it’s been in years.

“Tito,” Luc says, breaking the silence. Tito’s glasses are still propped onto his nose and his lips are a little swollen; there’s definitely more blood flow in them than usual because Luc notices how plump they are and he leans forward, brushing his thumb again Tito’s bottom lip. “I really wanna fuck you,” he continues, unbothered because they’re way past being too coy to tell each other what they want.

Tito grins. “You should.”

Luc pulls on the waistband of Tito’s swimsuit and he’s pleased to see that Tito’s already hard. There’s lube in the bedside drawer because even though Luc hates it when Tito calls him a boy scout for always having everything on hand when they hook up, he likes to be prepared. He knew, at the back of his mind, that he and Tito were gonna hook up in here today so before he left for dinner, he got everything ready just in case. Luc spreads lube on his fingers while Tito lays down on the bed, on his stomach to facilitate things.

He takes his time opening Tito up when he can, but he’s not really sure how long they have until Ryan decides he’s had enough of the Barcelonian weather and decides to come back to the room. To be fair, Luc doubts he’s gonna come back at all because he’s been spending the past two nights they’ve been here in some girl’s hotel room-- count on him to find someone to sleep with the first night he gets here.

Well, Luc could say the same because he has Tito and has been sleeping with him pretty much every day for almost a month now, but that’s a secret, so.

He starts with two fingers, because he knows Tito is still loose from yesterday and that wasting too much time on prep might be useless. Tito’s eyes are shut tight and Luc grins, pleased with himself because he knows how to make Tito feel good. He shouldn’t focus so much on the fact he can make Tito feel good while others can’t, but he likes knowing that Tito always comes back to him because he knows how to do things right, how to fuck him right and how to kiss him just enough to tip him over the edge.

He adds two more fingers gradually, knows when to add another without Tito having to ask. Luc likes that about their thing, likes that they no longer have to ask for anything because the other just knows what they need and when they need it.

They’re both covered in a sheen of sweat, slick skin against slick skin, the bed creaking a little underneath them, the noise coming from the bed covered by their combined groans and grunts, and Luc can’t get over just how easy it is to be in bed with Tito. It’s cheesy enough that they just said they love each other mid-sex, so Luc doesn’t actually voice his thoughts, but he’s thinking really hard about how easy it would be to be with Tito for as long as he’ll have him.

“C’mon,” Tito says, after Luc probably zones out for a second. “You can fuck me now,” he says, easily.

He’s already on his back so it’s easy for Luc to just hover over him and lean to the side to grab a condom from the nightstand. He opens the foil packet with his teeth and he’s quick to put it on so he doesn’t make Tito wait any longer. Luc doesn’t think he wants to wait any longer either, so he jerks himself a few times before leaning forward and pushing his dick in until he bottoms out.

It feels good, Tito’s ass clenching around him as he gets used to it. There’s always a moment where they just lay there, breathing loudly and staring at each other. Luc enjoys those moments more than any other guy, but they don’t exactly feel right when it’s not with Tito. When he hooks up with other people, though he hasn’t in a while, that same moment is spent with his eyes closed. At first, he thought it was just because he was focusing on not hurting the other person, but Luc soon realized that closing his eyes actually allows him to picture Tito on the bed instead of a stranger. That makes him feel a little better; it grounds him. It’s a nice feeling.

He really starts fucking Tito a moment later, when their breathing has both stabilized and Tito just grins at him from his place on the mattress. The noises he’s making are enough to get Luc going at a faster pace, fucking Tito like there’s no tomorrow. Tito’s hands are holding onto the sheets, fingers tight against the white fabric. His glasses are still on but they’re all fogged up so Luc slows down to take them off, placing them on the nightstand. Tito’s eyes are more blue than ever and Luc just wants to lean up and kiss him.

So, he does, because he can. He doesn’t have to worry about overdoing it because Tito said he was in love with him, which is more than Luc would have expected coming in to this trip. Tito kisses him back and Luc pushes in a bit more.

“Let’s switch up,” Luc says, pulling out completely. Tito opens his eyes and nods, like he already knows where this is going.

The funny thing is, he probably does. They’ve done this countless times, switching up positions in the middle of sex just for the fun of it. Luc’s heard stories about how it supposedly spices up the relationship and he wouldn’t go as far as saying that, but he knows it makes sex with Tito a better experience overall.

“You okay?” Luc asks, when Tito straddles his hips. He looks fine, but Luc always makes sure to check.

Tito hums and that’s answer enough. He smiles and that’s a pretty good answer, too.

Luc’s hands are on Tito’s hips, fingers digging into the skin a little. He takes a good look at Tito before he grabs his own dick in his hand and lines it up with Tito’s hole. Tito sinks down slowly, like he’s been doing this often enough to know what he’s doing, and he doesn’t say anything until he’s fully seated on Luc’s dick.

“Fuck,” he says, under his breath. His grip is tight on Luc’s arms but Luc doesn’t mind it at all. Not when he’s balls deep in Tito and Tito’s biting on his bottom lip.

That’s like, a secret code to tell Luc he’s enjoying himself and Luc wants Tito to know that it’s the same for him so he start moving a little, at first. The switch in position makes it harder for Luc to move but somehow, it’s easier for Tito to call the shots. He just moves as he pleases, lifting himself up a little only to sink back down.

Neither of them last long and Luc is surprised by his own orgasm when it’s his time to come. He carefully moves on his side, watching Tito do the same before Luc pulls out, takes the condom off and jerks his dick twice before he’s coming all over his hand. Tito’s turn comes not too long after, he’s propped on his elbow and his free hand is rubbing on his nibble while Luc jerks him off. It’s not ideal and also not the most comfortable position ever known to man, but. They make do.

It takes a while for their breathing to go back to normal, but that’s okay. It’s one of the moments Luc learned to appreciate over the years, too. Moments that he easily gets tired of with random hookups, though he wouldn’t mind spending hours like this with Tito. He’s always hit with this feeling at the back of his mind that’s like, _you did that_ , whenever he sleeps with Tito.

“You good?” Luc asks.

Tito’s head is propped against two of the pillows and his eyes are closed. “I’m good,” he answers, but he looks exhausted.

There’s a damp towel on the nightstand so Luc extends his arm to grab it and he hands it to Tito, prepared to receive an incredible amount of chirps just for that one.

“You’ve got everything all figured out, huh?” Tito asks, taking the towel and wiping his chest and thighs with it.

Luc shrugs. “I mean, I knew we’d probably need it.”

Luc takes the towel and wipes himself off, too. He’s looking at Tito while he does it so it takes more time than it should but he doesn’t really care. He throws the towel and it lands on the bed, and he feels a little bad for Ryan who’s gonna have to sleep in a bed with a wet spot in it but he turns towards Tito anyway and forgets all about it.

“I love you,” Tito says.

Luc smiles, leans in to kiss Tito quickly. He doesn’t wanna let it linger because if he does, he knows they’re not gonna get up for a shower. “I know,” he says instead. He’s never going to get tired of hearing that. “I love you, too.”

 

The next morning, Luc wakes up next to Tito and the day is already off to a great start. He can’t remember the last time he woke up next to someone, only because he always makes sure his random hookups find their way home before he falls asleep. Tito’s not a random hookup, though, not anymore. He’s Luc’s something, and since they haven’t put a label on it quite yet, Luc can’t really know for sure, but. Being Tito’s boyfriend sounds pretty cool.

He turns around to look at his phone and he notices the time. It’s only 9 a.m. so it makes that Tito is still fast asleep. What’s weird is that there’s a text from Ryan that he hasn’t opened yet, timestamped at 4 in the morning and frankly, Luc’s not sure he even wants to open it.

It probably has something to do with whoever he hooked up last night, which would explain why he’s not currently here, sleeping in the bed next to his. Except -

Except when Luc opens it, he realizes it has nothing to do with Ryan’s hookup.

 _next time put a sock on the handle or something_ , the first text reads. And then, _tell me all about it over breakfast? 9:30am?_

He wants to laugh, but he can’t. Because they’ve kept this thing secret for years now and it would be bad for it to just come out because they weren’t careful. He kinda wishes Tito’s friend had been out of the room so they could’ve fucked there because Luc has a feeling he knows more about them than he lets on. He doesn’t mind Ryan finding out Luc’s been hooking up, it’s the fact that he’s been hooking up with Tito that bothers him. He doesn’t want to out Tito without his permission, because that would be, like, wrong.

 _ill be down soon ill let u know_ , Luc sends back.

Tito wakes up moments later. Luc’s looking through his suitcase for a shirt he hasn’t worn yet so he can go downstairs for breakfast with Ryan when he hears movement coming from the bed and turns around to find Tito sitting up, a pillow propped behind his back.

“Hey,” Luc says. He doesn’t lean over to kiss Tito because of morning breath, but he really wants to nonetheless. “I’m going to breakfast with Ryan. Wanna come?”

“Yeah,” Tito says, standing up. He’s still naked and Luc can’t blame his eyes for looking at him, every part of him. Luc throws him a shirt and Tito disappears in the bathroom for a while.

He leaves the door open, which doesn’t make any sense at all but Luc lets himself in when Tito’s brushing his teeth to do the same.

“You okay?” Tito asks, after spitting in the sink. Luc’s glad he’s not the one worrying, this time.

He shrugs. “Yeah,” he says, but thinks it over and decides not to lie to Tito anymore, especially not about that. “You know, I think Ryan came into the room at like 4 in the morning and he saw you in my bed. I don’t know if he saw your face or recognized your hair or whatever because he was probably drunk and it was most likely very dark but he wanted me to come to breakfast so we could talk about it.”

“Okay,” Tito says. “Thank you for telling me.”

Luc takes his time brushing his teeth after that. He feels like they should have a longer conversation about this but it can wait until he’s done brushing his teeth. He can probably kiss Tito before they leave, if he’s lucky. He spits in the sink one last time and turns off the light.

Tito’s sitting on the bed, his phone in his hand and he’s scrolling through Instagram and Luc already knows what he’s doing. He’s either liking pictures of dogs, which Luc finds adorable, or liking pictures of girls for a reason Luc can’t quite pinpoint. There’s no in between, apart from those occasional earth pictures.

“Before we go,” Luc says. “I just want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

Tito hums, like it’s his way of telling Luc that he’s listening.

“Are we, like, boyfriends?”

Tito looks up from his phone at that, smiling at Luc. “Well, yeah. I thought we were past that since I told you I love you last night.”

“Oh,” Luc says, because he hadn’t exactly put a label on what this was yet, though he was secretly hoping they could be dating. “We can tell Ryan, right? Because he’s probably gonna ask questions.”

“Yes, you moron. Now can we go?”

Luc laughs but he pushes Tito out the door anyway. They make it to breakfast on time, even though Ryan doesn’t seem to be expecting Tito. Luc had come up with a lie when Tito was still asleep, in case he wasn’t ready to tell Ryan about them. He was going to say that he’d bumped into Tito on his way downstairs and invited him to breakfast, which when he actually thinks about it seems a little farfetched, but. It’s not like Ryan was gonna say anything about it, though, considering he’s probably hungover.

Luc’s theory is confirmed when they get closer to the table. Ryan’s drinking orange juice but he also has two bottles of gatorade and unless he’s just gotten back from a hockey game, he’s 100% hungover.

“You look like shit,” Tito says, before Luc gets to say anything, and Luc really can’t take him anywhere. He makes a good point, though. Ryan really looks like shit.

“Yeah, man, you’ve seen better days,” Luc says, amplifying the blow.

Ryan looks up from his hands. “Fuck you both,” he says, but there’s a hint of a smile splayed on his lips so he’s mostly kidding.

“Rough night?” Luc asks, trying to make conversation when he realizes Tito’s probably gonna be engrossed in his phone and in his food as soon as the plates arrive.

He’s not bringing up Ryan’s texts on purpose because he wants him to be the one to talk about it first. It’s stupid, but if he doesn’t really wanna know about it then maybe they don’t have to tell him right away. He’s probably not even gonna remember.

Ryan’s in the middle of telling a story about how he was trying to pick up this girl at the bar last night when the food arrives and like Luc imagined, Tito’s more focused on his food and on his phone to even follow the conversation. That makes Luc smile a little, and even though Ryan thinks he’s smiling about whatever adventures he went on last night, Luc is glad he’s gonna be able to be soft about Tito in public as soon as he tells everyone about their relationship.

Luc is eating his omelette, and listening to Ryan who talks way too much for someone who’s supposed to be hungover when Tito places a hand on his thigh. His hand is warm and Luc can feel the warmth through his shorts and it’s a lot for ten in the morning. Tito’s grinning to himself, looking down at his phone so it doesn’t look to suspicious and Ryan, who’s sitting on the other side of the table has no idea what’s happening over here. Has no idea that if Tito’s hand moves up even a little bit, Luc is gonna start squirming and he’s gonna get hard in seconds.

Eating his omelette is suddenly a lot more difficult. He’s trying to, though, nodding along to whatever Ryan is saying. It gets even worse when Tito starts rubbing circles on Luc’s inner thigh with his thumb. It doesn’t tickle and it’s not uncomfortable, like, at all, but Luc is so aroused right now that he doesn’t think he can even look at Ryan right now.

“You look weird,” Ryan prompts and Luc is gonna kill Tito.

Luc places his hand on top of Tito’s and luckily, Tito just entwines their fingers together, so his hand on Luc’s thigh isn’t as distracting as before.

“I’m fine,” he says, not even daring to look at Tito because he knows he’s going to make a face. He does tighten the grip for a second, and Tito does the same.

“So, last night,” Ryan starts, completely unprompted and uncalled for. “You didn’t think about texting me that you’d found someone to hook up with, so I wouldn’t have to find out at like, four in the morning?”

There are a lot of ways to answer this question, but Luc chooses the easy way because he can tell Tito’s done with his food and he’s resorted to playing dumb games on his phone instead of, you know, participating in this conversation like a normal person.

“I forgot. It won’t happen again, man,” Luc says, easily.

Ryan grins. “You’re good, man.” He turns to Tito and says, “What about you? Are you getting any at all?”

Tito just grins and brings their linked hands on the table and that’s one way to tell your friend about your relationship, Luc guesses. The look on Ryan’s face is the funniest thing ever; he’s looking at Luc and then at Tito and he looks confused but also happy, so there’s no telling what he’s actually feeling. Luc is happy and Tito looks pretty fucking smug about whatever he just pulled, so it seems to be okay overall.

“I mean, it makes sense,” Ryan says belatedly.

Luc is confused. “How does it make sense?”

“You both make dumb faces when you talk about each other or to each other. At first, we just all thought you were weird about each other because you played in the Q and it seems to be, like, a rite of passage or something, but now it makes sense,” Ryan says, taking a sip of his drink.

Luc doesn’t mean to but he starts laughing. “A rite of passage, you’re a fucking idiot.”

“That’s what they tell you, that everyone in the Q is weird. And like, I’m not wrong,” Ryan says, like that makes any sense at all. “So, you’ve been dating how long?”

“Officially?” Luc asks.

Ryan nods.

Luc doesn’t even get to tell Ryan about it because Tito interjects, “Officially, it’s been like an hour and a half. But we’ve been, like, sleeping together for almost four years.”

“Jesus,” Ryan says.

The rest of breakfast goes well after that, and it’s only when they have to get up to go back to their rooms that Tito lets go of Luc’s hand. They hold hands on the way back to their rooms and Luc tries his best to ignore Ryan and the pictures he’s so obviously taking while they’re all waiting for the elevator. It’s whatever.

Luc is happy and it’s all that matters.


End file.
